Speech given at the Tariqa Tijaniyyah mawlid (Gamou), Copenhagen, Sept. 1. 2011
Dhul-Qada 4. 1432
After praising Allah and sending benedictions and prayers on the Prophet I continued:
A common notion is that Islam was spread by the sword. That's wrong. What is true, is that the Muslim army occupied large amounts of land. Where they would build garrison cities, so the Muslims did not mix very much with the local population, for there are no cohersion in reglion as, Allah told us in His Book. But the locals saw the behavior of the early Muslims, both their religious practice and in their laws of warfare. The Geneva Convention is close to nothing, if you study the laws of war laid down by our Beloved (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (radAllahu ta'ala anhu).
The next exposure of Islam to the non-muslims was traders and travelers. Again – their adab opened the Religion of Islam for the locals. And this really worked, by the grace of Allah! It worked so well, that “’urf al-balad” - traditions of the country - became an integrated principle in the Sacred Law. One example: It is generally makruh to grow trees in masajid, but in al-Andalus, the southern Spain, there was a tradition of growing trees inside houses, so because of the principle of 'urf, the scholars did not criticize it.
The same concept will still work today! What concept? Showing people adab the of Islam! That will have a strong impact on individuals. Where do we find the adab of Islam? In the Book of Allah and the sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad (alaihi salam) and it is easy: Be upright Muslims!
Follow the most simple Sunnan of the Messenger:
Greet people with a smile.
Be helpful
Share your food and drink – Example: share your food with the one next to you on the train. Maybe you come to talk about Islam and at some time, the stranger becomes your brother in Islam.
What is NOT benefitting Islam is all theese people in sunna attire screaming angry in street demonstrations. Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad once told us that wudu is a good tool to resist anger, and in context of the angry people demonstrating he said: “…but I did not see a single person doing wudu”.
So be Muslims in the society and circumstances Allah Mosth High Has placed us. There are a hikma in that. Maybe difficult to see, but there is a hikma and a benefit for the believer and Islam. Be a part of the society, engage in the good and do your best to guide people away from munkar. Do this with adab and respect. When talking to people, always assume they are better than you. Always. You do not know his/her rank with Allah tabaraka wa ta’ala.
The question of adab is extra important for us tariqa people. Our way is the Book and the Sunnah. We strive to become muhanmadan in nature and character and we strive our best to abide Allahs commandments and avoid what He has prohibited. That's a part of tarbiyya. Just look at one of the basic rules of our tariqa: Show respect to your parents and the people you are living with. If you do that, the rest will follow, in sha Allah, and you will increase in respect for others.
Our shuyukh of the Tariqa Tijaniyyah are our physicians, who prescribe the medicin, depending on our state – the awrad and the teachings. This is often strong medicine, prescribed individually, limited in time and number.
But in addition, there are over the counter drugs that all of us can use, without an prescription. They are very useful, but remember, there is an ocean of difference between us who have a shaykh al-tarbiyyah and people who stick to “selfhelp” books. And having a shaykh to explain the “selfhelp” books will increase you in knowledge and action. Action: It is very important to practice your knowledge, if not “you are a donky carrying books”.
So, due to my bad adab in prepairing this speech, rather than going through a number of quranic ayat and hadith from the Holy Prophet, which was my plan, I'll challenge myself, first and foremost, and you to do two things:
- Read through the Quran – or an explanation of the Book in a language you understand, while writing down ayat that relate to your personal adab. Go over the list and look at your own life. I personally know I'll find a lot to work on in my own life.
- Go slowly through the great works Riyad al-Saliheen (I strongly discurrage reading the edition by Darussalam, because the wahhabi pen has "corrected" it and the comments are by Mr. al-Albani, which is one of the greatest heretics in our time) by Imam al-Nawawi and al-Shama'il Muhammadiyyah by Imam al-Thirmidhi. Reflect on the ahadith and and your own life. Write down the important things you observe within yourself and things you want to work on with respect to adab and good works.
If you repeat this procedure once or twice, you will learn a lot about yourself and what state you are in, in sha Allah.
So insha Allah – perfect your adab and character and people will respect you. They will ask where you got this character from, and you end up talking about Islam and the person may become Muslim, just like the one you shared a piece of bread and a bottle of water with in the train.
I pray Allah to forgive my errors and shortcommings.
Seek His forgiveness for indeed He al-Ghafur al-Rahim.
